SA start-up develops first .NET compact framework for non-Windows smartphones
23 August 2006
News
A young, entrepreneurial South African business, Red Five Labs, has developed pioneering technology that will allow Symbian and Windows Mobile smartphones to ‘speak the same language’. The technology will meet a pressing need for Microsoft-oriented mobile software developers, it says.
Red Five Labs recently received a venture capital injection from SA venture capital firm, HBD Venture Capital and the Innovation Fund, an instrument of the National Department of Science and Technology.
According to Julia Long, CEO of HBD Venture Capital, the incompatibility of smartphone programming languages has long been a headache for developers the world-over. "Currently, the majority of software developers use the .NET programming languages but the vast majority of smartphones are based on Symbian and do not support .NET (in the same way that applications written for the Apple Mac generally do not work on the PC). Red Five Labs' technology changes all of this; removing the need for applications - whether these are games, screensavers or calculators - to be rewritten for each type of smartphone.
The smartphone technology allows applications written in Microsoft .Net Compact Framework to work almost entirely unchanged on Symbian phones and has the potential of cutting development time and costs markedly. And potentially, attracting giants like Nokia and Vodafone, according to the group.
"Because developers will not have to develop and maintain source code for multiple operating systems the new technology will allow mobile application developers across the globe to cut their investment in development time with immediate benefits to the bottom line. It will work for both existing and new applications and the online nature of the development community will enable a speedy entry to market," said Long.
The investment has now allowed the group to speed up development time and it expects to enter its first private beta stage this month. Once this is complete, Red Five Labs will release the technology commercially and all Symbian-based smartphones will be a potential platform for the software.
Dusan Babich, co-founder of Red Five Labs said that South Africa was an ideal environment in which to develop this technology. "This country provides us with excellent technical people to develop our product and the advanced nature of SA's mobile industry assisted in highlighting the market gap which our product addresses."
For more information contact Dusan Babich, Red Five Labs, +27 (0)11 807 4229, dusanb@redfivelabs.com
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